Naysayers

It's easier to destroy than it is to create. This is important to remember, especially when you're putting a new idea on the market, or if you're opening yourself up to a lot of people (employers, customers, readers, etc.) at once. People have a tendency to poo-poo anything they didn't think of themselves simply because, well, they didn't think of it first. Take the Million Dollar Homepage Guy for example. I hate this guy and his idea simply because I didn't think of it first. The difference between me and the average Joe, however, is that I recognize that I'm jealous of a really worthwhile idea and the fact that he made a lot of money.

My point (and how it relates to online marketing) is that the internet is still in its infancy. Cars have been around for fifty years plus and just look at the innovations! The internet is what, 15 years old? 20 if you go back to its initial concept? With something so new, there are bound to be hundreds of thousands of landmark innovations brought about by people like you and me in our lifetimes.

So when you have a new idea - something fresh, and something you think you can really take to market, go ahead and do it. Take precautions with anything requiring a substantial investment, but don't let even that stop you. Let the naysayers come and do their work and ignore them. Use them as devil's advocates and sift through their criticism for ways to improve, or just ignore them all together.

I think you'll find that faith and confidence in your own ideas and your own work is a key building block not only to online marketing, but to business as a whole. As for the naysayers, I'm finding that their numbers are often directly proportional to the creativity of an idea and the first sign that you're on to something good.